Latricieres Chambertin Grand Cru

Jean-Louis Trapet's deliberate rejection of Gevrey's power archetype is nowhere more legible than in Latricières-Chambertin: a single ~0.75 ha parcel whose 1938-planted vines sit at the southern edge of the Grand Cru belt, where the slope flattens and soils shift toward heavier clay fractions over limestone bedrock — conditions that naturally temper extraction and lengthen the aromatic register rather than amplifying muscle.

In the cellar, Trapet applies 80–100% whole-cluster fermentation (vintage-dependent) in open vats with native yeasts, beginning with a cool pre-fermentation maceration before transitioning to light extraction — punch-downs at the outset, then gentle pump-overs only. No sulphur is added at harvest, during fermentation, or during ageing; a minimal dose is reserved for bottling alone. The wine rests in French oak barriques for 18–20 months (30–75% new oak range for Grand Crus), then transferred by gravity and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The transgression: while peers pursue reductive, low-oxygen regimes to protect whole-cluster wines, Trapet keeps the wine deliberately open throughout — a philosophical wager that terroir clarity outlasts protective technique. In 2020, an outstanding year described as dense with phenomenal length, Latricières drinks with vivid acidity and fine-grained tannins that reward patience. Drink 2032–2060.